My little girl is headed off to high school next year, don’t worry I will be okay, like most parents I just need a moment to process where the last seven years have gone. It also meant that it was time for the one of the first BIG events in her life, the Year Six formal! In those last seven years I have driven more than 350 cars and the one my daughter has loved the most has been the Ford Mustang. So, when I asked my daughter what car she wanted me to take her to the formal in there was only going to be one answer, “a Mustang.”
Thanks to Ford Australia, I delivered not just a Mustang, but The Mustang of the moment, the Dark Horse and my daughter repeatedly hugged it during the week that it was in our garage. I have previously only driven the Dark Horse on the track at The Bend Motorsport Park during the launch of the seventh generation Mustang, so this would be my first opportunity to spend some quality time with it. The first order of business was dropping my daughter off at the formal venue, which took about 30 seconds, as I was told to simply let her out of the car and leave because she was just too excited to be with her friends, then to actually get any photos with the Mustang at the venue, so luckily I snapped some quick photos before we left.
The other guests certainly heard us coming though and turned to see what was pulling up in the driveway, so she made an entrance none the less. The Dark Horse has an Active Valve Performance Exhaust and while at The Bend I did note that the exhaust sounded louder and chunkier than the GT Mustang that was also lapping the track at the same time.
Aesthetically the Dark Horse is easy to spot on the road thanks to the forward-facing horse on the badge, a first for Mustang. The badges are placed on the front quarters, boot and door sills, while a dark, anodised version of the famous pony stays on the front of the unique, gloss black grille. This exclusive colour is called Blue Ember and has been chosen by 60% of Dark Horse customers in Australia; it’s gorgeous and changes from dark blue to purple with reddish flecks in the sunlight.
At the heart of Mustang Dark Horse is the highly tuned 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine that produces 350kW of power at 7,250rpm and 550Nm of torque at 4,850rpm and has a 7,500rpm red line. The new Gen-IV version of this iconic powerplant is best in class for naturally aspirated V8s and has improved air induction with segment-first dual throttle body design. On the Dark Horse engine, the standard cast Aluminium block and head with plasma transfer wire arc cylinder liners and steel oil pan has forged connecting rods from the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. The official combined fuel consumption is 12.8 L/100km and for my week I knew my fuel use was going to be high as I had to fill the Dark Horse up more than once, a sure indication that I was enjoying it, and in the end, it was 18.0L/100km.
The Mustang Dark Horse either comes with the six-speed TREMEC manual transmission that’s used in the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, which 48% of Australian customers have gone for, or Ford’s advanced 10-speed automatic transmission. I had the manual version and as was confirmed at The Bend, it’s a great ‘box, easily making the Dark Horse the best Mustang I have ever driven. If you are hunting the classifieds for a Dark Horse, I suggest you aim for a manual one.
As you approach the Dark Horse with the key fob in your pocket the headlights and rear taillights dance, like a cheeky horse getting excited for a ride, and it even sounds like one because the Mustang snickers at you as well. When you step over the ‘Dark Horse’ scuff plate and settle into the Recaro seats the forward-facing horse on the digital driver’s dash winks at you before you even press the red start button to awaken the animal within.
The graphics used in seventh-generation Mustangs are based on the same Unreal Engine 3D creation tool used in modern video games. The 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster can be customised to display different animated designs and new drive-mode dependent visuals. You can even select the dash design of previous Mustang generations, including the Mustang Classic ‘67-‘68, Mustang Fox Body ‘87-‘93, or the Mustang SVT Cobra ‘99-‘01.
Inside, each Dark Horse is identified with an individual chassis number, and is finished with leather and Dinamica covered Recaro seats in Black Onyx and Deep Indigo Blue with a distinctive seat perforations that emit further hints of blue below the surface. The interior trim, bezels and vents are finished in Black Alloy, a dark metallic gloss replacing the familiar bright silver shades of other Mustang trim levels and finally the manual gear knob is finished in Titanium Indigo. The gear knob looks great, but if you park the Dark Horse in the sun it becomes so hot that you can barely touch it, so I suggest using a sunshade if you have to park out in the open.
The driver’s seat has power adjustment for forward/back, seat height front and rear and 2-way lumber support, but only manual recline adjustment. If there was one suggestion that I would make to Ford it would be to add powered recline adjustment at least on the driver’s side and some memory settings as well. The passenger seat has power adjustment for forward/back with single seat height adjustment and manual recline adjustment.
The leather-wrapped, flat-bottomed steering wheel features microsuede inserts and is finished with Bright Indigo Blue accent stitching. The dedicated drive mode button is at thumb’s reach, allowing drivers to quickly choose the desired driving setup. The six selectable drive modes available are Normal, Sport, Slippery, Race Track, Drag Strip, and Custom under which there is the option to save six different custom setups. Under the Custom mode you can select from one of the base drive modes that sets the suspension and steering, the traction control can be set to on or off, and the active exhaust can be set to Normal, Sport, race Track or Quiet. The steering feel is adjusted using a separate button on the steering wheel and you can change the exhaust sound by pressing the Mustang button next to the start/stop button. All of this and then you can select the primary and secondary ambient lighting colours and their brightness and my fav combo is pink and purple, really just to annoy the next person who gets into the Mustang.
There are several built-in Track apps available on the Mustang and these include acceleration timer, brake performance, lap timer, performance shift indicator (manual only), drift brake, line lock, launch control (manual only), and rev matching (manual only). The track use only drift brake is very entertaining to use, as I got to find out on the skidpan in the GT and Ecoboost Mustangs. You pull up and push down on the ‘handbrake’ to use it, but it’s actually an electric park brake in reality.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard and worked well for me when connecting via Android. There’s a wireless charge pad at the front of the centre console with one USB-C port, one USB-A port and one 12V socket located here, with another 12V socket located under the arm rest. All Australian Mustang models also come with an advanced B&O Sound System, providing crisp audio through 12 speakers including a subwoofer with media sources being AM/FM radio, DAB+, Bluetooth, and Smartphone.
One very small detail that I noticed on the next-gen Mustang was the silhouette on the voice control button has been redesigned and it’s no longer masculine looking, see the image now has a more rounded jaw line (right-hand side) compared to the old square jaw line (left-hand side). The voice control function also worked well for making a phone call, changing the radio station, and setting a destination on the sat nav.
Like the previous generation Mustang, there is very little room for rear seat passengers and the Mustang falls into the category that I call a three-seater car. Because only one person can fit in the rear seat when the passenger seat is moved all the way forward. If you do squeeze in back there your head is actually under the rear windscreen so you will need to wear a hat as there are no rear air vents or cup holders. There are two ISOfix/two rear tether child seat restraint points and you need to be aware of the sculptured nature of the rear seats as this may impact on their fitment. Reaching in to buckle your child up may be difficult as well, something I remember from my first drive in a Mustang when my daughter was still in a booster seat.
I like the tribute to each of the Mustang generations with the silhouette one the rear window and another moulding on the inside of the boot. The Mustang has a power assisted boot lid with the button to release it on the lid, key fob and in the cabin and to close the lid you need to push down on the exterior as there is no moulding to grab on to. The boot is large and deep, so you need to reach to retrieve items that are right at the back and if more space if required the rear seats have a 50:50 split fold mechanism. There’s a tyre repair kit located under the boot floor.
The seventh-generation comes with a number of driver assist features including Pre-collision Assist with Autonomous Emergency Braking that detects pedestrians, but not in all conditions, Lane Centering, Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Sport Monitoring, Rear Brake Assist, and an alert to tell you to keep your hands on the steering wheel that sometimes bongs at you even when you have your hands on the wheel. They also have dual front side and passenger knee airbags as standard, with all but the GT Convertible gaining curtain airbags. The Dark Horse has a standard rear-view camera with rear parking sensors only and for convenience you get auto wipers and auto lights, but no auto high beam.
All new Ford vehicles sold in Australia receive a 5 years/unlimited kilometre warranty. The Ford warranty covers defects in factory materials and workmanship under “normal use and operation” within Australia. Therefore, given that Ford Australia advertise track use as normal use and operation, the warranty will not be voided if a customer uses their Mustang on the track. A Ford Spokesperson added,
“However, there are limits. Unreasonable or excessive track use, or exceeding the operating limitations of the vehicle (i.e., abuse of the vehicle) will not be covered. In any given case where there is track use and a subsequent warranty claim due to a failed part an assessment would need to be made as to whether the driver abused the vehicle (not covered) or operated it within its limitations (covered).”
The service interval for the Dark Horse Mustang is 12 months or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first. For MY2024 or later builds, the most an eligible customer will pay is $379 for the first four general services for up to 4 years or 60,000kms, whichever occurs first. By servicing through the Ford dealer network, you also receive 12 months State Auto Club membership and Roadside Assistance.
When the 1,000 units of the quickly sold-out Ford Mustang Dark Horse went on sale the pricing for the TREMEC six-speed manual transmission version was from $99,102 plus on-road costs and the automatic was $103,002 plus on-roads. A quick search on the internet showed there are now some examples being offered for sale used, at around a $30k premium above these prices. Proving that Laurie Transou, the Chief Program Engineer for Mustang, and her team have delivered on their goal of creating an iconic Mustang for this generation. Don’t be surprised either when my daughter names the Dark Horse as her Car of the Year.
| Pros | Cons |
| My very happy daughter | The gear knob gets hot in the sun |
| It’s the best Mustang I have ever driven | No power adjustment for recline on the driver’s seat |
| The level of in-car customisation available | The bong that tells you to keep your hands on the steering wheel |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.